Broward`s Pollution Sites

November 13, 1985

Incidents of pollution that pose a contamination threat to the environment have been found at more than 100 locations in Broward County. The sites on this list, compiled from environmental reports and interviews with officials, are among those of particular concern to regulators. The county Environmental Quality Control Board currently is updating its list.

A -- BURKE-PALMASON CHEMICAL CO.: 1510 SW 13th Court, Pompano Beach. Inspectors found 22 illegally buried drums of waste on the property of the latex adhesives maker. The state cited the company for bypassing its waste treatment system last year and dumping untreated, chemical-laden water onto the ground. Burke-Palmason removed the drums, pumped water out of the ground and treated the water to reduce pollution. Cleanup has been completed.

B -- E.B. STIMPSON CO. INC.: 1515 SW 13th Court, Pompano Beach. With permits from EQCB and the state Department of Environmental Regulation, the firm discharged industrial wastewater into seepage ponds. The company is cleaning those ponds. Heavy metals and low levels of volatile organic solvents, laced with toxic chemicals, later were found in groundwater. The firm installed a treatment system to remove toxic materials and hooked into a sewer.

C -- ASSOCIATED CIRCUITS INC.: 1111 W. McNab Road, Pompano Beach. This now- defunct firm made printed circuit boards for electronic equipment. The state and EQCB cited the company for violating copper and lead standards in groundwater after improperly disposing of wastewater. In court action, the state is trying to force the firm to pay a penalty and cleanup costs.

D -- MODULAR COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC. (Modcomp): 6380 NW 26th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale. In 1982, inspectors found an unauthorized underground storage tank being used to store waste oil and solvents. Vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen, was later found in nearby water supply wells. Modcomp paid an $8,000 fine and is removing contaminated soil.

E -- HOLLINGSWORTH SOLDERLESS TERMINAL CO.: 700 NW 57th Place, Fort Lauderdale. The now-bankrupt firm making electrical conductors dumped wastewater containing tricloroethylene (you mean trichloroethylene?) and heavy metals into drainfields and an old irrigation well for about eight years. This is scheduled for cleanup by the EPA under the Superfund program.

G -- MOTOROLA CORP.: 8000 W. Sunrise Blvd., Plantation. Until 1980, the plant disposed of wastewater in a percolation pond. Soil and water at the pond were later removed and cleaned. Still, heavy metals, cyanides and other toxic chemicals were detected in groundwater tests last year during monitoring after the company`s cleanup.

H -- DAVCO PRINTED CIRCUITS INC.: 3000 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale. High levels of methylene chloride and other toxic chemicals were found in treated wastewater disposed of in a drainfield. Trichloroethene (you mean trichloroethylene?) and tetrachloroethene were detected in groundwater, violating county and state regulations. Firm has been cited both by the EQCB and the state. Owners agreed to pay fines and cleanup costs, according to an attorney for the state Department of Environmental Regulation.

I -- PORT EVERGLADES: This summer, an estimated 1,000 gallons of diesel seeped daily into a 12-foot pit dug near the port`s administration building while port officials tried to determine the source of a leak. The leaking fuel was pumped from the pit into a tank. The state DER is studying how to handle the problem.

J -- FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Just southeast of the new parking garage on the east side of the airport near Perimeter Road. Earlier this year, construction workers digging trenches for the airport expansion discovered jet fuel in the groundwater near the airport. Environmental officials are studying the contamination to determine its extent and origin. The EQCB cited the Broward County Aviation Department, as the property owner, for illegal discharge of hazardous material. Two other sites at the airport are being investigated.

K -- DAVIE LANDFILL: Southwest 142nd Avenue, Davie. Iron and lead were discovered in the groundwater near the sludge lagoon, where waste was dumped until 1981. The site is on the Superfund list.

L -- CRAMER AND MAUER INC.: 3901 S. State Road 7, Davie. In a lined waste-oil pit containing tanker sludge, inspectors found cadmium, copper, lead and zinc. The state is negotiating with site owners for a cleanup. Next door, NEFF OIL CO. INC., 3830 SW 47th Ave., Davie, has been cited numerous times by the EQCB for dumping waste oil onto the ground.

M -- PETROLEUM PRODUCTS CORP.: 3130 SW 19th St., Pembroke Park. The former waste-oil recycler left an estimated 60,000 gallons of oil in groundwater and soil when it closed in 1979. Vinyl chloride and two other toxic chemicals have been detected in some of those wells at low levels.